As child, I have always believe the city is an island separate from the State of Michigan. I've lived where politicians blame the surrounding countries (United States and Latin American) for the trouble that the island suffers. The United States is blamed for sending the jobs overseas and Latin American for bringing in the illegal drugs. The island has been considered abandon. Yet, the politicians promoted the city as heading for a comeback. However the issues remain plaguing the city from its past.

The city has unemployment, areas destroy by the rebellion of 1967, and the problems go on. The city officials talk, argue, and threaten each other. After watching the third video in my research Deforce, I realize all the bickering deteriorate the city's future. The documentary details the demise of Detroit. I don't understand then or now why no one could have stopped the corruption and the greed. One Death At A Time (work in progress novel) takes place in 1980's and 1990's when the city's isolation leaded to more political corruption.

The mayoral race between Mayor Young and his opponent Barrow got ugly. Barrow's commercial had a child looking both ways come off his porch to go to school with a bulletproof vest. As a young woman, I thought about wearing one but I took to praying nightly. My family never believed the shootings were that serious so I knew I wouldn't be getting a vest? The commercial made me realize people knew the crime against the youth was on a tragic rise. I grew tired and angry by the increase crime in Detroit communities. I strive to make a positive impact and impression on young people. I never found out or understood why Detroit has rampant corruption. Why it couldn't be stop for Detroit to get back on track?

I would ask myself - Where am I going? I answer finish high school, finish college, and get a job. Where is Detroit going? No easy answer came to my mind.

What do I believe? I can do anything but I have to work at it. What can the people do who want to rebuild Detroit? There's endless possibilities but they won't always materialize for the good of all.One Death At A Time UpdateI have made it to Chapter 13 of 20. I want to finish the first draft and move to the rewrite by December. I feel so close yet I got to keep up a good pace to bring this novel to a close. I'm doing Camp NaNWriMo for July maybe I can write the last seven chapters this month.

I worked on research for a couple days before moving on to chapter 11. I couldn’t remember the exact way how the gangsters rose in Detroit during the late 1970’s to the mid 1990’s when the novel One Death At A Time (work in progress) would take place. The gangs or crews like YBI (Young Boys Inc.) and rival gangs ruled the neighbors and the streets. The police fought to bring it under control. But the lure of the money kept the recruiting high. I nearly came to tears looking at the Murder City and Deforce documentaries.

I grew up in the neighbor where shootings were common. I remembered the metal detectors, school security, police officers armed inside Cody High School. These images had me living in fear and the belief I could die young. Even though I focused on my schoolwork, it took a lot of courage to walk to and from school, unmeasurable pressure on an individual.

My novel is fictional yet it’s helping me to work through and put to rest these past feelings of a painful and fearful childhood. Although this has happened so many years ago, the memories of the death toll and shootings of youths are still vivid in my mind. In one year, more than three hundred sixty-five shootings involved young people.

The drug dealers saw themselves providing jobs to the poor. Yet they never understood what harm and destruction the drug trade did to the citizens in the neighborhoods. When the news reported five teens were murdered, they weren’t numbers but people. I cried. The young people and I were in the middle of a war. I didn’t understand why we were targeted. Why was the city so poor? I didn’t have the answers to the whys. All I knew I could die. I continued to attend school and educate myself. I knew a high school diploma and college degree could further my future.

Frelisa Walker

The novel One Death At A Time (work in progress) conveys a hopeful message that Detroit can overcome it's problems.​​This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.